Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Experimental Study of Lost Circulation using non-Newtonian fluids in fractured porous media
Submission Author:
Cássio Schneider , PR
Co-Authors:
Cássio Schneider, Felipe Pereira, Fernando Cesar De Lai, alex waldmann, Andre Leibsohn Martins, Silvio L. M. Junqueira
Presenter: Cássio Schneider
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-2050
Abstract
Studies involving non-Newtonian fluid flow into totally or partially porous ducts or channels have received considerable attention because of their wide range of engineering applications such as drilling, production and recovery of oil and gas reservoirs. The high-pressure gradients associated to the drilling process facilitates the fluid invasion towards the formation as the porous substrate gets fractured or its naturally fractured, a phenomenon rather undesirable for the oil industry, so called lost circulation, takes place. The lost circulation is defined as the drilling fluid that flows towards the rock formation through the pores or cracks in the well-formation set, which is aggravated since a preferential flow is verified if the formation is fractured. In the present work, the flow of non-Newtonian fluid in a partially porous and fractured channel is investigated, characterizing the lost circulation phenomenon. The tests were performed in an experimental set designed and built to characterize the lost circulation phenomenon in a partially porous and fractured channel, in order to analyze the effect of the rock formation during the process, allowing the use of non-Newtonian fluids and the monitoring of variables such as flow, pressure and temperature during the experimental tests. The non-Newtonian fluids were formulated by mixing water with three different concentrations of Carbopol (~10, 15 and 20%). The fluids flow curves were adjusted according to the Herschel-Bulkley model. Porous substrates with 10 and 20 PPI pore throats played the surrounding formation role. The experimental tests considered the effect of vertical channel Reynolds number, fracture exit flow rate, working fluid polymer concentration and substrate pore throat on return flow rate and the fracture differential pressure. The results show that all parameters can change the pressure settings during the lost circulation, exerting a direct influence on the differential pressure generated between the vertical channel and the fracture.
Keywords
lost circulation, experimental set-up, fractured channel, Porous media, Non Newtonian Fluids
